Why does Western literature abound with figures that experience a crucial moment of uncertainty in their actions? This literary and historical analysis explores the significance of such heroes and anti-heroes as Aeneas, Hamlet, Orestes, and Josef K. Theodore Ziolkowski asserts that the indecision of the characters reflects the tensions that their authors observed in their own societies. Drawing on the insights of Hegel and Freud, Ziolkowski analyzes the ways in which these conflicts represent turning points in cultural history.